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The passion for knowledge

A quick scan of our incoming pictures from the last few days shows that students are on the march around the world. College kids in Italy, Bulgaria, Chile and Britain are protesting budget cuts and student fee increases. In a world where knowledge is power, can nations afford to not fund higher education?

Filippo Monteforte / AFP - Getty Images

Students demonstrate, Nov. 17, 2010 in the center of Rome against reforming universities and budget cuts decided by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's center-right government. Over the last two years, the Berlusconi government adopted several new bills, which cut the education budget by 9 billion Euros and remove 130,000 jobs over the 2009-2013 period.

Eliseo Fernandez / Reuters

A high school student is detained by riot police during a protest inside the Chilean congress in Valparaiso city, about 75 miles northwest of Santiago, Nov. 16, 2010. Over 60 students protested at the parliament against changes to public education and are demanding the government to increase university budgets.

Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP - Getty Images

Students carry books on their heads, Nov. 16, 2010, in front of Sofia's university building in Sofia, Bulgaria during a protest against higher education budget cuts. For 2010, the Bulgarian government is forecasting modest growth of 1%, but observers, including the International Monetary Fund, are much less optimistic.

Facundo Arrizabalaga / EPA

Students break through a window to enter into the Conservative Party Headquarters in London during a demonstration against raising the cap on student tuition fees, Nov. 10, 2010.

It’s also happening in the United States. AP’s Terence Chea reports:

SAN FRANCISCO — Police arrested and pepper-sprayed University of California students during a violent protest Wednesday over a proposed tuition increase that left three officers injured. Thirteen people, including 10 UC students, were taken into custody during the demonstration at UC San Francisco, where the Board of Regents was meeting, said campus police Chief Pamela Roskowski.